Listen to the Force
by BlueRonin
Summary: After the Invasion of Naboo, Anakin Skywalker meditates on his life and when the Force shows him a vision of things to come he wonders if becoming a Jedi is the right path for him.
1. Chapter 1

Listen to the Force 01

Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Black Lagoon.

Summary: After the Invasion of Naboo, Anakin Skywalker meditates on his life and when the Force shows him a vision of things to come he wonders if becoming a Jedi is the right path for him.  
-

BBY 32

Naboo, Theed Royal Palace.

Anakin Skywalker couldn't sleep. He was in a room bigger than his home on Tatooine, laying between sheets of something called silk, on what had to be the most comfortable bed in the Galaxy.

_Only the best for the Hero of Naboo, _Padmé had told him. After she had stopped laughing when he asked her how many people he would be sharing the room with. 'How was I supposed to know this room was just for me? It's huge!'

The room was actually the Veruna suite, named after King Ars Veruna, in the wing of the Palace reserved for important guests. The main doors lead to a large hall with comfortable chairs and a sofa arranged around a low wood table. Across the hall, two stained glass doors lead to a stone balcony with a view of the gardens. A door to the left lead to the bedroom where Anakin was trying to sleep and a door to the right lead to an office with a heavy wood desk, shelves full of books and a holo-projector connected to the HoloNet.

After Qui-Gon's funeral, Anakin had locked himself in the office with a big toolbox he found in one of the Palace machine shops and began to work on his new droid. R2-D2 had been a gift from Padmé and it proved to be the perfect distraction.

The Industrial Automaton R2-Series was considered by many to be the best astromech droid available on the market, favored by both pilots and mechanics across the Galaxy. Anakin never thought he would own one. The standard R2-Series came equipped from the factory with two manipulator arms; a fusion welder; a circular buzz saw; a fire extinguisher; a computer interface arm; a holo-projector/recorder and video/electromagnetic sensors. The R2-Series droid featured an Interllex IV computer and an astrogation buffer that could store up to ten sets of hyperspace vector coordinates.

However, R2-D2 was not a standard R2-Series astromech droid. One of the reasons people liked the R2-Series was because, even with all the equipment it came with, there was still plenty of room for more. Allowing people to modify their R2 droids to their individual needs.

Someone had taken the time to install a lot of extras in R2-D2.

The little droid also had heat/motion and life-form sensors; an oil injector; a cable gun; an electric pike with enough volts to knock out an angry Tusken raider, a claw arm that could cut the same Tusken in half; an internal comlink; a long range transmitter; a pair of thruster jets that allowed the droid to fly for a short time and something called submarine mode, a strange mod that raised one of the video sensors on a periscope and activated a propeller allowing the droid to swim.

That last modification had Anakin shaking his head in bewildered amusement but, despite all these mods, the most surprising piece of equipment he found on R2 was a heuristic processor.

It was far more advanced than the standard droid processors and it allowed the Astromech to learn new things by seeing and doing, rather than by being programed. It also enabled the droid to reason through several potential solutions to a problem in search of the best and formulate the most effective approach to any given task.

Anakin decided to make a few modifications of his own. He began by removing the heuristic processor and connecting it to eight standard processors from eight other R2 units.

Most of the N-1 starfighters that flew into space to protect Naboo during the invasion by the Trade Federation, did so with a R2 astromech droid. Several of the droids were damaged in the battle and had been left in a corner of the hanger to be repaired or scraped.

Anakin had... helped himself to a few parts.

He connected the nine processors in a cube shaped matrix, the eight standard processors in the corners of the cube and the heuristic processor in the center.

This greatly increased R2's processing power. It was also illegal.

The Republic had several regulations limiting droids processing power, for the same reason periodic memory wipes were recommended. The greater the processing power, the greater the chance a droid could develop personality quirks. Anyone violating these regulations could be punished with heavy fines or even jail time, depending on what the modified droid did or was used for.

Anakin Skywalker could not care less about the law if he tried. Republic law also said slavery was illegal, but that had not helped him or his mother. As for personality quirks, R2-D2 already had a few. From what Anakin had seen, R2 was brave, loyal and headstrong with a slowly developing sense of humor. These were all things Anakin liked in a droid and he was not alone there.

R2-D2 was not the first droid Anakin had modified. On Tatooine, most people that walked into Watto's shop were looking to buy or sell droid or ship parts, most of Watto's clients were Jawas trying to sell him salvage, but after Watto saw Anakin's talent with machines that changed.

Word began to spread that Watto's shop, previously just another junkyard, was now offering repairs, modifications and upgrades to droids, speeders and ships.

Most of the prospective clients that walked into the shop, only to be told that the one providing those services was a child slave, turned around and walked away grumbling about wasted time.

Those that stayed, some out of curiosity, some because they couldn't afford to go elsewhere, were surprised at the boy's level of skill and knowledge.

Eventually the shop began to attract a new kind of clients.

Bounty hunters.

Most wanted their blasters modified to give them more power per shot or a higher rate of fire, some wanted a custom weapon made. A few wanted their droids upgraded with new gear that would make their job easier, like comms jammers and slicing programs. Occasionally, a bounty hunter would walk into the shop looking for someone that could modify his ship to be faster or better armed.

Watto turned them all away.

He did so very carefully, knowing just how dangerous bounty hunters could be. It's not that Watto didn't want the credits, he just knew the consequences of taking them.

There were places that provided those services to bounty hunters all over Tatooine. Most were big shops where bounty hunters could buy almost anything they would ever need for their trade, from blasters to ships. The clients of these shops ranged from arrogant kids that thought they were good with a blaster, to hardened veterans that knew being good with a blaster wasn't enough to make it as a bounty hunter.

The rest of the shops were smaller and provided after market upgrades, illegal mods and custom jobs. The clients of these shops were seasoned professionals, feared throughout the Galaxy, that walked out of those shops with customized weapons, armor and gear that cost more credits than most ships.

However, all of these shops had one thing in common.

They were all owned by the Hutts.

The Hutts liked knowing what weapons and gear the bounty hunters working in their space had, almost as much as they liked the credits those shops made. The Hutt clans remained in power in the Outer Rim longer than anyone else ever had. This was due to a number of reasons, a healthy dose of paranoia being among them.

Gardulla Besadii the Elder ruled Mos Espa and as much as Watto hated turning away paying clients, he knew that if he started to sell to bounty hunters it was only a matter of time until the Hutt took his shop. It just wasn't worth the risk.

At least not for Watto. For Anakin it was more than worth it, it was necessary. Anakin Skywalker was born into slavery, but he had no intention of living out his life as one. He would be free.

On Tatooine, the only way for a slave to gain his or her freedom was to buy it. The price was often double whatever their owner payed for the slave, sometimes more. It could take a lifetime for a slave to scrape together that sum. Most slaves didn't even try.

Anakin had been saving up for years. At the rate he was going, Anakin would have to save for decades. What he made at Watto's shop was nothing compared to what the bounty hunters would pay.

This was not without danger. Unlike Watto, he did not have a shop to lose, but the Hutts were still a problem. If Watto went into that kind of work, Gardulla would take his shop but Watto would be in no real danger. The Hutt might even let him run the shop for her.

If Anakin, a slave, went into that kind of work he was endangering his life. If Gardulla found out, she could kill Anakin. However, a much worse fate could be waiting for him. The Hutt could be impressed with his work, in witch case Anakin could spend his life locked in a room of Gardulla's palace, working for the crime lord.

Every time a bounty hunter walked into the shop, Anakin would watch him carefully. As Watto tried to explain that they did not provide services for bounty hunters, without getting blasted, Anakin listened to what his instinct told him. Anakin always knew if a bounty hunter would keep his secret or if he would betray him to the Hutts for a few credits. Of course, now he knew it was not his instinct but the Force. Anakin was glad he had listened and contacted those bounty hunters the Force told him he could trust to keep quiet. He had a small but loyal clientele and had almost enough to buy his and his mother's freedom. The bounty hunters liked his work and payed well.

Ironically, Anakin's first client was not a bounty hunter, but a smuggler.

Anakin rolled over in bed and smiled as he remembered the first time is oldest client walked into Watto's shop. He was so tall he had to bend his neck to get through the doorway. With broad shoulders and a body bulging with muscles, he had an imposing presence. But it was the black tattoos on his chalk-white face, twisting around his eyes and up his bald head that made him intimidating. Anakin had never seen someone like that but Watto, judging by the fact that he quickly backed away from the man, clearly had. Curious, Anakin approached Watto to ask him who the man was, only for the Toydarian to whisper one word. Rattataki.

Even though Anakin had never seen one before, he had heard of the Rattataki. Strong and fierce warriors. Mercenaries and bounty hunters, prized by those lucky enough to be able to hire their services and feared by everyone else.

Watto's fear was obvious, but when Anakin looked at the man he felt no danger. Well, at least not for him, the big man was getting annoyed with Watto's reaction. Walking up to him, Anakin greeted the Rattataki like he would any other client. The annoyed frown directed at the Toydarian hiding behind the counter turned to a look of surprise at being cheerfully greeted by a small Human child, asking what he wanted. The Rattataki introduced himself as Dutch and said he was looking for someone to take a look at his damaged ship. Watto emerged from behind the counter just long enough to mutter something about no bounty hunters, only to hurry back down when Dutch glared at him.

Dutch said he was a smuggler, not a bounty hunter and that his ship had been damaged during his latest run for Gardulla the Elder. The Hutt had refused to pay for the repairs but someone at the palace had recommended Watto's shop. Anakin grabbed his tools and told Dutch he would be happy to take a look at his ship, trying to get the big and increasingly annoyed smuggler away from Watto before the Toydarian said something that would get him shot in the face. The smuggler realized what Anakin was doing and, with a bemused look on his face, allowed himself to be lead away from the shop.

Like most Tatooine settlements, Mos Espa began as a mining colony. When the mining efforts failed, the Hutts moved in and turned Mos Espa into a dangerous but growing city. These days Mos Espa was an expansive spaceport with over a hundred docking bays scattered across the city, with wide streets twisting around the domed-roofed adobe buildings like a great snake. Gardulla the Elder's city house, a large complex of buildings surrounded by a tall durasteel wall, dominated the city. Just outside the city, on its Northern Dune Sea side was the Mos Espa Grand Arena, home to one of the most famous podracing tracks in the Outer Rim Territories.

As always it was a bright and hot day, thanks to the systems binary stars, but Anakin and Dutch didn't have to walk very far as the smuggler had moved his ship to a docking bay just behind Watto's shop.

On the way Dutch told Anakin a little about the damage taken by his ship, the Black Lagoon. Anakin expected a light freighter with improved sub-light engines, a fast hyperdrive and numerous secret compartments, the standard mods most smugglers made to their ships.

What he found was a pocket warship.

The Amphibious Interstellar Assault Transport/infantry was a gunship made by the Kuat Drive Yards for the Galactic Republic. It was used by the Judicial Forces, the closest thing the Republic had to a standing military. The AIAT/i gunship was 31.5 meters long, 12.5 meters high with a 30-meter wingspan, making it about twice the size of the light freighters preferred by most smugglers. Despite its size the gunship was fast, reaching up to 700 km/h, thanks to a pair of oversized sublight engines mounted under the wings. The ships size allowed it to carry 350 cubic meters of cargo or up to 50 troops and several vehicles into battle. The gunships two forward facing twin laser cannon turrets and four concussion missile launchers made it a serious threat to larger ships like corvettes and frigates. The rear laser cannon turret made short work of any careless pilot maneuvering behind the gunship for a good shot.

This combination of speed, firepower and cargo space also made it popular with other groups, such as the Mandalorians. Jango Fett, the most infamous Mandalorian bounty hunter in the Galaxy, was know to use one.

The AIAT/i hull was shaped like a boat, allowing it to land on large bodies of water but in the duracrete docking bay it gave the ship a strange look. Not that Anakin would say that out loud. Dutch was obviously proud of his ship.

The damage to the ship itself was minor, the durasteel armor was scorched from laser fire and one of the turret mounts needed some work but the real problem was the hyperdrive. It had been some time since it had received maintenance and the short battle followed by the jump to Tatooine blew out the drive.

Anakin did a quick assessment and told Dutch how long the repairs would take and how much it would cost. The smuggler winced at the amount but knew hyperdrives were always the most expensive piece of equipment on a ship.

Over the next few days Anakin and Dutch worked on the Black Lagoon and learned many things about each other. First of all Anakin learned Dutch wasn't much of a mechanic. The smuggler spent his time handing Anakin tools and watching with growing respect as the boy repaired the gunship. They talked about their favorite ships and speeders. About the short but brutal confrontation with a rival smuggler which lead to the damage done to the Black Lagoon, which in turn lead to Anakin arguing the benefits of speed, while Dutch tried to convince him that what you wanted in a ship was firepower. Anakin talked about his life on Tatooine, his talent with machines and his love of podracing. Dutch talked about growing up in a war torn Rattatak, where the rival Rattataki warlords fought each other in never ending battles, about fighting in the gladiator pits as a boy to prove his worth as a warrior, being hired by an offworlder as a mercenary and his recent decision to take all his credits and buy a ship to try his luck as a smuggler.

There were some subjects they both avoided, such as Anakin's slavery and exactly how the big Rattataki ended up with a name like 'Dutch'. -Don't ask kid, long story.-

Eventually the damage to the Black Lagoon was repaired, in about half the time Dutch expected and it was time for the smuggler to move on. Anakin knew it was now or never and asked Dutch if he was interested in making some upgrades to his ship. Curious, the smuggler asked Anakin what he had in mind. Anakin pointed out that the only reason the Black Lagoon had taken so much damage was because the gunship was supposed to have more crew members that could operate the weapons, allowing the pilot to focus on flying the ship. Dutch said he wasn't looking for crew members. Anakin suggested installing an auto-tracking fire controller which would give the Black Lagoon fully automated firing capabilities but Dutch said they were too expensive. With some hesitation, Anakin said he could connect the three laser turrets to the ships targeting computer and upload the latest auto-tracking fire software available in the Republic. Dutch looked at Anakin for a long moment, then asked how much Watto would charge for that. Anakin told him Watto would not have anything to do with it, this deal would stay between them. Dutch was not surprised.

They discussed the details and Anakin told Dutch what gear he would need, namely computer parts. Over the years Anakin had built a specialized computer for slicing, with whatever parts he could get his hands on. It didn't look like much, in fact it looked like an old datapad. It was small and slim, if a little bulkier than newer models, with a touchscreen and several data ports. Datapads were a common sight across the Galaxy, even out on the Rim, and not really worth stealing. Which, of course, was the point. With it, Anakin could slice pretty much any network, as long as it was connected to the HoloNet. However, to slice through the levels of encryption they were talking about, Anakin would need to upgrade his computer with parts that could not be found on Tatooine. If Dutch could get him the parts, Anakin should be able to slice the Kuat Drive Yards network and get the military software he needed. The smuggler agreed and soon Anakin's computer became much more powerful and the Black Lagoon became a whole lot deadlier.

That was the first of many mutually beneficial deals between Anakin and Dutch over the years. The next time the Rattataki came back to Tatooine, to buy a medical droid for the ship, Anakin made him a custom heavy blaster pistol and an auto scatter gun. In exchange the smuggler taught him how to use a blaster pistol and promised he would teach Anakin to use a scatter gun, when he was actually big enough to hold one.

The next time Dutch returned to Tatooine, he walked into Watto's shop grumbling about annoying insects. The smuggler told Watto he needed Anakin's services and turned around, not caring what the Toydarian had to say about it, knowing Anakin would follow him out to the usual docking bay.

It turned out the annoying insects Dutch was grumbling about were rival smugglers that had ambushed him during his last job. The Black Lagoon was fine. When the four rival smugglers tried to box in and destroy the gunship, Dutch used four concussion missiles to blow one of the light freighters out of his way and the new auto-tracking fire controller sprayed the other two ships with laser fire.

That's when the starfighters came in. The smugglers had brought four starfighters with them and they turned out to be a bigger problem than the ships. With the two twin laser cannon turrets keeping the remaining ships away, the only weapon that could target the starfighters was the rear laser cannon. The cannon was meant to target larger and slower ships and was only able to destroy one of the fast moving starfighters.

The military grade ray shield generator on the Black Lagoon was more than capable of protecting the ship for the time it took the astrogation computer to calculate a hyperspace jump, but Dutch was angry about the fact that he was forced to run from what he considered weaklings.

That was the second time he had been attacked by other smugglers and the second time he had been forced to run. He would not run from them a third time.

When Anakin asked what he could do to help, Dutch said, -Weapons, lots of weapons.-

Anakin crawled all over the Black Lagoon, looking closer at the ship than he ever had before. When he was done, Anakin made a list and gave it to Dutch. The Rattataki looked over the list, nodded at Anakin and walked out of the docking bay without a word.

Two days later, Dutch came back in a cargo speeder loaded with large crates. As Dutch unloaded the crates, Anakin looked over the contents. There was everything on the list and more. Anakin didn't ask how the smuggler got everything so fast, but from the blood stains on some of the crates he had a pretty good idea.

They worked for days, stopping only when Anakin had to go home for the night. He didn't even go to Watto's shop. On the third day the Toydarian came by the docking bay to complain, only to be chased out by blaster fire.

When they finished, the Black Lagoon was a very different ship. The three original laser cannons were removed and replaced by twin heavy laser cannons. A new turret was installed on top of the ships wing and a fourth twin heavy laser cannon was mounted on it. To deal with starfighters, the wing tips were extended and eight quad laser cannons were mounted on turrets, four above and four below the wing tips, giving them a 360 degree fire arc. Finally two ion cannons were mounted below the wings, tucked in between the sublight engines and the ships frame, on a fixed fire arc.

These mods came with a price. The ship lost speed, maneuverability and several tons worth of cargo space. Dutch was wiling to lose cargo space in exchange for firepower, but not speed. Anakin grinned at that, thinking back to their debates of speed versus firepower. They installed a secondary generator to power the weapons, allowing the primary generator to provide more power to the engines. However, with the extra mass and twelve weapon turrets mounted on the hull there wasn't much that could be done to improve maneuverability.

Night had fallen, bringing with it a welcoming drop in temperature. Anakin wished the smuggler good luck and turned to go home, when Dutch surprised him by asking Anakin if he wanted to go with him.

Anakin stared at Dutch like he was suddenly speaking a different language. Dutch reasoned that all the new systems hadn't been tested yet and if something were to malfunction only Anakin could repair it.

Anakin looked up at the sky, through the open roof of the docking bay. The stars were beautiful as always, but tonight seemed to shine brighter than ever, almost like they were calling out to him.

How many times had he looked up at the stars, wishing he could go to every single one? Wishing he could be free?

With an excited grin, Anakin hurried to say yes, almost biting his tongue in the process. However, before he could get the word out, his hand seemed to move of its own volition to the back of his neck.

Slave collars were a rare sight on Tatooine. The only ones who still made use of them were the Hutts, as just another way to show their power over others. Most slave owners preferred to use subdermal implants on their slaves. A small incision was made on the back of the neck of the slave, down to the subcutaneous skin layer and the implant was placed underneath the skin, allowing the body to heal over it. The implant contained a homing beacon, a comms receiver, a shock pad and a small explosive charge.

The homing beacon allowed the slave owners to track down their slaves should they escape and the comms receiver gave them the option of punishing their slaves by activating the shock pad with a comm-link. The same comm-link could be used to detonate the explosive charge. The charge itself was very small, but the blast was more than enough to destroy the slaves brain stem.

Many slave owners programed the homing beacon with a maximum distance from their comm-link. This determined how far away a slave could get from their owner. If a slave approached the maximum distance the shock pad would automatically activate on the lowest setting, as more of a warning than a punishment. If the slave ignored the warning and crossed the maximum distance, the explosive charge would automatically detonate. The distance varied, depending on how trusted the slave was.

Anakin's maximum distance allowed him to leave Mos Espa, as Watto would often send him on errands to other cities, but if he left Tatooine...

Anakin's grin died and from the look on the smugglers face, Dutch realized why. Before Dutch could say anything, Anakin left the docking bay.

That was a difficult night and Anakin had crawled into his mother's bed for comfort. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone.

The next day Anakin and his mother walked from their home in Mos Espa's Slave Quarters to Watto's shop, like they did every morning. Usually Anakin would cheerfully tell his mother about his latest project or talk about the last podrace he saw, but that morning they walked down the sandy streets in silence. His mother ruffled his hair and Anakin looked up to see her looking at him with a small, gentle smile.

They heard the raised voices coming from Watto's shop before they saw the building. They walked in to witness a strange sight. Watto and Dutch were in the middle of a shouting match, one that seemed to have been going on for quite some time, judging from all the curious people peeking through the door. Watto's fear of the Rattataki had apparently been replaced by anger, as the irate Toydarian was flapping his wings to raise himself to Dutch's eye level and was shouting at the top of his lungs.

Anakin couldn't understand what either of them were shouting about and it looked they weren't planing on stopping any time soon. Suddenly, an hear shattering whistle made everyone cringe. With his hears ringing, Anakin looked behind him to see his mother with a sheepish grin on her face, before clearing her throat and softly telling Watto that it was probably a bad idea for the shop's owner to behave like that in front of potential customers.

Watto blinked surprised at their, apparently, sudden presence and saw the crowd gathering at his door. Shop keepers, slaves, a couple of Anakin's friends laughing at him and a few people making bets on how long it would take for the Rattataki to kill the Toydarian. Seeing the credits changing hands seemed to make Watto snap out of it. Flying to the doorway, Watto chased them all away and closed the door.

As Watto locked the door, Anakin asked Dutch what they were arguing about. It was Watto who answered, flying back to Dutch and accusing the smuggler of wanting to steal his slave. Dutch frowned and explained that he had came by the shop to ask Watto to allow Anakin to join him on his next smuggling run. There was more shouting but Anakin wasn't listening. All he could think about was jumping into the Black Lagoon and flying to the stars.

Then Watto said something that made him angry. The Toydarian was saying that for Anakin to leave the planet, the slave implant would have to be deactivated and if that happened Anakin would never return to Tatooine. Anakin stepped between them, looked Watto in the eye and asked him if he really believed Anakin would abandon his mother.

Watto faltered, glanced at Anakin's mother and muttered something that vaguely sounded like an apology. Dutch saw an opportunity and told Watto that, in exchange for allowing Anakin to join him on this smuggling run, Dutch would sign a contract stating Anakin was the only mechanic allowed to work on the Black Lagoon.

Watto's eyes widened in surprise. Successful smugglers made a lot of credits and put most of them back into their ships. An exclusive contract with a smuggler could be worth a small fortune. Greed was a powerful motivator and soon Watto was discussing the details with Dutch while Anakin ran home to pack a bag.

Space was everything Anakin hoped for and more. The freedom he felt when Watto deactivated his slave implant was nothing compared to being on a ship ascending to the stars. Everything was breathtakingly beautiful, from the systems binary stars and distant planets to the dark, empty void between them. Even Tatooine, often described by both locals and visitors as an ugly sand pit, looked like a magnificent gemstone glowing in the night. When Dutch finished uploading the hyperspace coordinates and asked him if he was ready to go Anakin turned to him with a wide grin that said it all.

For all its beauty space was not without danger. The moment the Black Lagoon jumped out of the first of several hyperspace jumps it took to reach their destination, they were ambushed by the same three ships that survived the last confrontation. This time Dutch was ready for them.

Instead of trying to outrun them until he could jump out of the system, like most people would have done, Dutch turned his ship towards them and gunned the engines. Seeing the much heavier gunship heading towards them on a collision course, the attacking ships broke formation and scattered in three different directions. Dutch held his course and fired four concussion missiles at the closest of the light freighters, reducing it to scrap metal. As the Black Lagoon flew by the two remaining ships, the four twin heavy laser cannons opened fire, battering down the shields of a Corellian light freighter and peppering the other ship with laser fire as they maneuvered back into attack positions.

Recovering from the gunships surprising attack, the two enemy ships began to retaliate. The fast Corillian light freighter was the first to open fire on the Black Lagoon, maneuvering behind the gunship and quickly closing the distance before its depleted shields could recycle. That proved to be a mistake when both the rear and the top twin heavy laser cannons of the Black Lagoon opened fire and destroyed the ship.

Before they could enjoy the now even odds a new ship jumped into the system. It was an old CMC Class VI bulk freighter that had seen better days. Just as Dutch was about to warn them off, thinking it was a civilian ship in the wrong place at the wrong time, the bulk freighter opened its cargo bay doors and a swarm of starfighters flew out.

Cursing, Dutch swerved the ship away from the new threat, only to be met by laser fire from the last light freighter. From the smooth lines, Anakin told Dutch he suspected it was a Mon Calamari design. His suspicions were confirmed when the shields held against laser fire from three of the Black Lagoon four heavy cannons. Just before the two ships overshot each other, Dutch fired two concussion missiles while cursing the Mon Calamari for equipping all of their ships with a backup shield generator and making him waste more missiles.

Holding his course and keeping the wreak of the Mon Calamari freighter behind him, Dutch put as much distance between them and the pursuing starfighters as he could, giving the shield time to recycle to full power.

It didn't take long for the fast starfighters to catch up to the Black Lagoon. There were twelve starfighters, roughly divided into two squadrons. Usually that would be more than enough to take apart ships bigger than the Black Lagoon. However, there were two factors working against them. First, among the twelve starfighters there were five different designs, each one with a different acceleration rate. As a result, even though they all began the pursuit from the same point, the faster starfighters were soon pulling ahead and the slowest were left lagging behind. Instead of a coordinated attack, where all twelve would engage their target together, the three fastest starfighters entered weapons range with no backup and were promptly cut to shreds by the gunships point defenses.

This is where the second factor about these starfighters came in. Shield generators were expensive. In fact they were almost as expensive as hyperdrives and as a result most starfighters in the Outer Rim had neither. As the next four starfighters came in, the quad laser cannons on the Black Lagoon rotated on their turrets and opened fire with the same result.

Down seven starfighters there was a spike of comms chatter. One of the pilots, flying a Z-95 Headhunter, was apparently trying to reorganize the remaining pilots into a squadron.

Dutch pulled the Black Lagoon on the tightest turn the big ship could handle, hoping to take the offensive before they could regroup. They came out of the turn to see two missiles heading for them. Dipping the ships nose Dutch held his breath while the two missiles streaked by, above their heads. Glancing at the sensor screen, Anakin watched the two missiles fly away from the battle. The weapons had been fired dumb, hoping for a lucky hit.

Looking up Anakin saw the starfighters, now flying in formation, charging at them. Leading them was the Headhunter, the only starfighter armed with missiles. Not waiting for him to try again, this time with a missile lock, Anakin designated the Headhunter as the priority target. The gunships targeting computer aimed four quad laser cannons at the Headhunter, the remaining four at the closest starfighters and opened fire. Three starfighters were hit but only two were destroyed. The quad laser cannons sacrificed power for a rapid rate of fire and the few hits that connected with the Headhunter, before it took evasive maneuvers, were not enough to knock down the shields and destroy the starfighter.

The Black Lagoon shook from the return fire and Dutch kept an eye on the shield gage. As the distance between them diminished, the heavy laser cannons of the Black Lagoon joined the battle. The powerful weapons had a slow rate of fire and moved too slowly on their turrets to actually hit such small, fast moving targets but the extra laser fire was enough to make the pilots break off their attack run.

The three remaining pilots veered off and made tight turns to attack the Black Lagoon from three different vectors, hoping to find a hole in the gunships point defenses. It was a good tactic but the eight new quad laser cannons could target incoming craft from any direction.

The two unshielded starfighters were the first to vanish, in short lived explosions. The Headhunter, approaching from above relative to the Black Lagoon, was weaving between laser fire, trying to get a missile lock. In the gunships cockpit, watching the starfighter dive, Anakin's blood froze in his veins when the missile lock warning blared through the ship. Just as two missiles were leaving the launch tubes, laser fire knocked down the shields and shredded the last starfighter.

Taking a deep breath Dutch and Anakin braced for impact, well aware that even though the Headhunter was gone the missiles still had a lock on the Black Lagoon. The gunships targeting computer recognized the immediate threat and brought all available weapons to bear. Seven laser cannons fired at the incoming missiles, unleashing a storm of red coherent light.

One missile was destroyed, the other slipped through the laser barrage and slammed into the ship like a hammer. Anakin fell out of his seat but Dutch held on to the controls, trying to stabilize the gunship.

As the Black Lagoon stopped shaking, Anakin climbed back into his seat with a relieved sigh. Shutting off the blaring alarm, Anakin ran a systems check, looking for damage. Two quad laser cannons were destroyed and the heavy cannon on top of the wing was not responding. Ray shields were useless against missiles but thanks to the gunships durasteel armor, there was no apparent structural damage.

With an angry growl the Rattataki steered his ship towards the last sensor contact. The old bulk freighter was moving away from the battle, trying to avoid the prey turned predator, until it could jump to hyperspace.

Anakin scanned the bulk freighter for weapons. Without its starfighters and with only one laser cannon mounted on the nose, the large ship was no threat for the Black Lagoon.

Dutch charged up the ion cannons and closed the distance between them. Anakin still didn't know where Dutch found the cannons, they were not on the weapons list Anakin made for the gunship. The ion cannons were big and heavy, too big for the Black Lagoon, but the smuggler insisted on having them. Because of the size of the weapons, the ion cannons could not be mounted on turrets and were placed under the wing like a pair of oversized missiles.

Lining up the Black Lagoon with the bulk freighter Dutch opened fire. Two volleys were enough to take out the shields and a final volley caused the sublight engines to shut down.

Approaching the freighter Dutch turned on the flood lights and told Anakin to look for a docking ring. With a questioning look at the smuggler, Anakin moved the flood lights along the hull of the freighter and soon found one. Dutch maneuvered the Black Lagoon, rotating the gunship until both ships docking rings were aligned.

Connecting the ships, Dutch powered down the engines and moved to the back of the ship, grabbing his auto scatter gun along the way. Anakin followed the smuggler through the ship, to the docking ring.

Dutch looked at Anakin, gave him a comm-link, a blaster pistol, then told him stay put and to blast anyone that tried to board the Black Lagoon. Checking his weapon, Dutch walked into the bulk freighter, scatter gun leading the way.

Anakin stood by the docking ring, holding the blaster and trying to remember what Dutch taught him.

Anakin was more nervous just standing there than he was when there were several ships shooting at him. After what felt like hours, but was probably just a few minutes, Dutch's voice coming from the comm-link pulled Anakin from a daydream of him fighting endless hordes of pirates trying to board the Black Lagoon.

The Rattataki told Anakin to grab his slicing computer and make his way to the bulk freighters bridge. Running to the gunships cargo bay, where he had left his bag, Anakin took his computer and a first aid kit before running back to the docking ring.

He stepped into the freighter expecting to find a trail of bodies leading all the way to the bridge. Some corridors were cluttered with boxes or empty food wrappers but they were all thankfully clear of dead bodies.

After a couple of wrong turns Anakin reached the bridge. Dutch was standing over two men. The first, a blue Twi'lek, was clearly dead. The auto scatter gun he made for Dutch was a powerful weapon, especially at close range. In the confines of a ship it could easily cut a man in half. The second, a Rodian, was still breathing although judging by the bloody wound on his skull he was going to wake up with a hell of a headache.

Dutch turned to look at Anakin and asked if he could access the ship's computer. Someone had locked down the computer and neither the Twi'lek nor the Rodian were up to answering questions.

Anakin found a terminal and hooked up his slicing computer. The encryption software was better than he expected but it didn't take long to get in. Anakin accessed the internal sensors to look for life forms and let out a sigh of relief when he only found three. Running a systems diagnostic program revealed the ship suffered no permanent damage from the ion cannon fire.

Dutch walked over to the terminal and asked Anakin to look for recent comms, to and from the ship. Pulling up the ship's comms log, Anakin showed Dutch a list of all the comms made in the last forty eight hours.

Dutch went over the list, clearly looking for one in particular, then pointed to one received a few minutes before they left Tatooine. Anakin activated the holo-tank and played the recorded transmission. The holo-tank displayed someone well know by everyone on Tatooine.

Jabba Desilijic Tiure

Tatooine was ruled by the Hutt Cartel. The Cartel presence on the planet was lead by Gardulla the Elder. She ruled unopposed until the Desilijic clan sent Jabba from Nal Hutta to Tatooine in order to safeguard the clans business interests on the desert planet.

Gardulla welcomed Jabba to Tatooine with a great feast in his honor. The feast lasted for days, the Hutts and their guests being entertained by the best music, the most beautiful dancers on the planet and enjoying enough food to feed a small city for months.

The feast ended with the two Hutts making vows of friendship and making promises of always putting the good of the Cartel above personal interests.

Naturally, the next day they began to plot against each other.

Dutch told Anakin that recently, several smugglers working for Gardulla the Elder were ambushed by unknown attackers. Of course there was nothing unknown about these attackers. Gardulla knew exactly who was behind it but she could not accuse Jabba, a fellow member of the Cartel, without evidence.

This was common behavior for the two Hutts, one attacking the other and getting away with it as long as they weren't caught. Despite everything Gardulla and Jabba maintained a cordial relationship, looking at these constant attacks like a game to be played against a worthy opponent.

Gardulla had offered a generous reward to anyone who brought her evidence of Jabba's involvement. Between the recorded transmission of Jabba ordering the Rodian captain of the bulk freighter to attack the Black Lagoon and having said captain as a prisoner, Dutch had more than enough evidence to collect the reward.

While Anakin tried to wrap his head around the 'games' played by the Hutts, Dutch finished binding the Rodians wrists and hauled him over his shoulder.

Seeing the smuggler walking away with his prisoner Anakin asked Dutch what he was going to do with the freighter. Dutch stopped, looked around the bridge for a moment and told Anakin he could have it. Anakin's heart skipped a beat and he asked Dutch to repeat what he just said.

Looking at him, Dutch told him he knew Anakin wouldn't be a slave forever. Besides, if Anakin hadn't made all those modifications to the Black Lagoon Dutch would probably be dead.

Anakin didn't even notice the Rattataki leaving the bridge. He had a ship. It wasn't new and it wasn't fast but dammit, he had a ship!

When Dutch came back Anakin was at the computer terminal, changing the security codes, uploading his best encryption software and generally doing everything he could think of to make sure no one stole his ship.

Anakin knew he couldn't take the ship back to Tatooine. Slaves were not allowed to own anything that could help them escape, ships being on the top of the list. Dutch told Anakin he knew of a few dead star systems with no inhabited planets, natural resources, trade routes or any reason for anyone to go there. These dead systems were used by smugglers to hide from various law enforcement agencies, to make repairs to damaged ships or as a safe place to store cargo they were not ready to move. It was the best place for Anakin to hide the ship.

Dutch recommended going through the ship first and look for anything he wanted to take with him. They searched the ship deck by deck, finding it to be mostly empty. The captains quarters had some valuables and a wall safe that Dutch opened with a hull cutter to find a small amount of credits but in the crew quarters, apparently used by the starfighter pilots, they found only personal belongings.

The only things of real value were found in the six cargo bays. The two main cargo bays had been converted to launch starfighters and even though all twelve were destroyed, there were still plenty of tools, power cells and spare parts Anakin could sell on Tatooine.

In the four smaller cargo bays they found enough supplies to feed the crew for six months. It would feed Anakin and his mother for years with enough left over to share with his friends. They loaded the cargo bay of the Black Lagoon to capacity and Dutch promised to come back for the rest before he moved the ship to a dead system.

Flying away in the powerful gunship, Anakin couldn't take his eyes from the beat up old freighter. That ship represented his freedom, his dreams for a better life.

Rolling over in bed Anakin took one last look around the Veruna suite, closed his eyes and tried to get to sleep. One way or another, his life would change tomorrow.

A/N: For those who know Black Lagoon you'll notice several members of the crew are missing. Don't worry, they will show up. What I would like to know is, what species should they be? I made Dutch a Rattataki but about Revy, Benny and Rock? Please let me know what species you think they should be and why.


	2. Chapter 2

Listen to the Force 02

Chapter 02

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Black Lagoon.

Summary: After the Invasion of Naboo, Anakin Skywalker meditates on his life and when the Force shows him a vision of things to come he wonders if becoming a Jedi is the right path for him.

A/N: Sorry about the delay. I was planning to post this chapter two weeks ago but RL decided to grow a sense of humor...

Hammerchuckery: Hey, my first reviewer on this site! I'm glad you are enjoying it. Thanks for the review.

NameNotTelling: Thank you for the review and the suggestions. I'm going to use at least one of them. And yes, it is weird that all the black people in the Star Wars universe can be counted by the fingers on one hand. It's one of those things that could be completely innocent. Or not.

Darth nylon544: Your are right, Revy would be a great Zeltron. Maybe a Twi'lek, I'm not sure yet. Thanks for the review.

(((XxX)))

BBY 32 Naboo, Theed Royal Palace

Anakin rolled over in bed. Why couldn't he sleep? He was tired. Between the battle, the victory celebrations and the funeral of Qui-Gon Jinn, he was exhausted.

Running his hand across his head, he felt his now short hair for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last ten minutes. Touching the side of his head, Anakin played with the small braid of hair that marked him as a Padawan.

'A Padawan without a Master'. The moment Anakin met Qui-Gon Jinn he felt a connection with the Jedi. Not like they had met before, but like they were destined to meet.

Anakin had never believed in things like that before, he believed people made their own destiny. Believing that he had some measure of control over his life, that one day he could be more than he was, made life as a slave a lot more bearable.

Now he was sure he was meant to meet Qui-Gon Jinn and become his apprentice.

But his Master was dead, killed by the Sith. Thinking about that dark warrior, that murderer, filled him with rage like nothing before ever had. The Sith had taken away his Master, had tried to kill Padmé and would have gladly killed them all.

Anakin knew the Sith were behind the invasion of Naboo, he had overheard Master Yoda talking with another Jedi at the funeral. From what they said there were always two Sith, a master and an apprentice.

One Sith was still out there, hiding somewhere, waiting to strike. The other was dead. Killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi.

His new Master.

Anakin didn't know how to feel about that. He had no connection with Kenobi. He was pretty sure Kenobi didn't like him and was only taking him as a Padawan because Qui-Gon Jinn made the young Jedi promise he would train Anakin if he could not.

Anakin didn't want to be his student anymore than Kenobi wanted to be his teacher. With a sigh, Anakin sat up in bed. "What am I going to do?"

*Listen to the Force*

"Who said that?" Jumping from the bed, Anakin looked around the room. R2-D2 was in the corner on stand by mode, recharging his power cells. The droid didn't make a sound. 'What was that?' Breathing in big gulps of air, Anakin tried to stop his heart from jumping out of his chest. "Hello... is there anybody there?"

*Listen to the Force Anakin*

He looked behind him, finding nothing. 'That sounded like Master Qui-Gon!' Hesitantly, Anakin called out. "Master Qui-Gon? Is that you?"

There was nothing, the night's silence broken only by the wind passing through the trees outside his window.

'Am I hearing things? No, that was Master Qui-Gon. But how?' Anakin had seen the Jedi use the Force to do all kinds of things, big and small, but Qui-Gon was dead. You couldn't use the Force after you died... could you?

'That was Master Qui-Gon, I'm sure of it. But what was he trying to tell me? Listen to the Force how?' Anakin wondered.

A memory jumped to the front of his mind. They were flying away from Tatooine, having barely escaped the Sith. Master Qui-Gon had stayed behind, fighting the Sith to give the rest of the group time to board the ship. That had been one of the most amazing things Anakin had ever seen. He ran through the ship looking for Qui-Gon, certain that he was wounded after fighting that monster. When Anakin found him Qui-Gon was sitting with his legs crossed, his eyes closed and a serene look on his face. Anakin stood there for what seemed like forever and then Qui-Gon opened his eyes and smiled. 'Don't worry Anakin I'm fine, just listening to the Force.'

"That's it! I can do that." Sitting on the floor, Anakin crossed his legs and closed his eyes. 'I can do this, just listen to the Force, easy.'

Twenty minutes later Anakin was no closer to listening to the Force than he was when he started. 'Any time now. Come on.' With a sigh Anakin stood up, raised his arms above his head and stretched until something in his back popped back into place. 'Dammit, I've been sitting on this cold floor for so long my butt is asleep and I can't hear anything. What am I doing wrong?'

Sitting on the bed, Anakin pictured Qui-Gon Jinn in his mind. He was sitting the same way his Master had been, he had his eyes closed, so what was he missing?

'The serene look on his face!' Qui-Gon had been calm, relaxed, peaceful. Anakin tried to relax but it was easier said than done. There was a lot going through his head.

Padmé and Qui-Gon walking into Watto's shop and changing his life forever. Winning the Boonta Eve Classic, the podrace that set him free. The shocking difference between Coruscant and Tatooine, the sheer beauty of the Jedi Temple and the nerve racking experience of standing before the Jedi Council. Journeying to Naboo and running through the Palace dodging battle droids, followed by the rush of flying a starfighter into battle for the first time. The amazing feeling of victory.

The guilt of leaving his mother and his friends on Tatooine to a life of slavery. The pain of of learning of his Master's death. The fear of what the future would bring.

'How am I supposed to relax?' Anakin shook his head.

'There must be a way. Master Qui-Gon said I used the Force during podraces, that it improved my reflexes and it even allowed me to see a few seconds into the future.'

'Maybe that's it. Maybe I should try to focus like I do before a race.' Taking a deep breath, Anakin pictured himself in his podracer, competing against Sebulba in a race with endless laps.

Slowly Anakin began to relax, allowing his mind to wander at the will of the Force.

The world around him vanished, replaced by faint sounds and blurry images.

Slowly the blurry images cleared and Anakin saw himself in a large room he had never been in, yet somehow knew was in the Jedi Temple. Other people began to appear, children about his age. They all held practice lighsabers and were making the same simple moves. A Jedi was leading them through the exercise.

The image changed and Anakin saw his mother, working in Watto's shop. She smiled as a client walked into the shop, but as Anakin looked closer he could feel her conflicted emotions. His mother was both happy for Anakin, glad that her son would not go through life as a slave and at same time missed him terribly and hoped he would return soon.

Anakin again saw himself at the Jedi Temple, in a room full of fountains. Obi-Wan Kenobi was there, trying to teach him to meditate. From the frustrated look on Kenobi's face it was clear he had been trying for a long time. Anakin looked around warily and asked if they could do this somewhere else but Kenobi refused, saying that the fountains were relaxing and made meditating easier. For Anakin, someone born and raised on a desert planet, being surrounded by so much water just made him uncomfortable. Kenobi either didn't notice or didn't care.

The image changed to a street that Anakin immediately recognized as the city of Mos Espa on Tatooine. His friend Wald, a few years older than Anakin remembered, ran down the street holding something while a Er'Kit ran after him shouting in Huttese. Anakin could feel his friend's satisfaction of getting the last part he needed to fix his swoop bike and the shop keeper's anger at the thief.

The image changed again, an older Anakin was sparing with another Padawan in a great chamber with large windows that allowed the sunlight to find every corner of the room. His blue practice lightsaber danced through the air in complex patterns. His opponent, a tall Troguta, held his green practise lightsaber in front of himself in a defensive stance.

The chamber was full of Jedi, Padawans formed a small circle around Anakin and his opponent and standing against the walls were several Knights and Masters. Anakin saw Kenobi standing close to Masters Yoda and Windu.

The difference between the two Padawans was obvious. Anakin's lightsaber was flying at his opponent in fast swings and aggressive stabs. The Trogutas lightsaber was moving gracefully to block, though he seemed to be struggling to keep up the pace. Anakin used a powerful two handed overhead swing, forcing the other Padawan to use all of his strength to block. Locking lightsabers for a moment Anakin looked him in the eye and, with a smirk, knocked the Troguta on his back.

Scrambling to his feet, the now panting Troguta held his lightsaber in front of him like a shield. An amused Anakin twirled his weapon as he circled his opponent, waiting for him to catch his breath, before suddenly rushing forward blue blade leading the way.

Anakin felt frustration, anger and even fear emanating from the tall Troguta as his older self taunted his opponent and continued to hammer his weapon against the green blade, harder than ever.

Anakin knew his older self was going to win. It was not an opinion born out of arrogance, he just knew. Judging by the desperate look in his eyes, the Troguta knew it too. But the Padawan wasn't giving up. There was still a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He was trying to buy time, hoping his older self would tire himself out.

Anakin wondered what was going through the mind of the Troguta and before he knew it, he jumped into the body of the Padawan.

*He was going to lose. Skywalker was just too fast, too strong. Damn him! Skywalker had been holding back from the start. Playing with him, laughing at him. All he needed was a chance, an opening in Skywalker's defense. Then he could... there! What he had been waiting for since the spar began. Without hesitation, he thrusts his lightsaber at Skywalker's chest, almost tasting his victory... but Skywalker wasn't there anymore. The Force screamed a warning but it was too late. The back of his neck exploded in pain and he lost consciousness.*

Anakin felt the blow as if it was his neck that was struck by his older self''s training lightsaber. As the pain shocked him out of the Troguta, Anakin had just enough time to see his older self look to his Master for approval and to feel his frustration at the disappointed look on Kenobi's face before the image blurred.

Something was different. Maybe it was the shock of being struck by an older version of himself, maybe it was something else, but it was becoming more difficult to see what the Force was trying to show him. Images rushed past him, most too blurry to make out.

In some images Anakin saw himself in strange places, talking with people he never met and fighting side by side with Kenobi.

Some of the images seemed to have nothing to do with him. One showed him an army of reptilian humanoids fighting a swarm of giant insects on a beach on some unknown planet.

The humanoids had red or dark orange scaly skin and four clawed fingers with two opposable thumbs on each hand. Anakin could see they had yellow eyes, dark hair and the two tusks protruding from their jaws, but their faces were hidden behind a strange bone mask.

The large bodies of the insects towered over the humanoids and were encased in natural carapace armor colored brown, grey or green. They had wedge shaped heads dominated by large multifaceted red eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. A long neck supported the head on broad shoulders. The torso tapered at the waist, where a long round abdomen extended behind them. Held before the torso, the insects had two double jointed arms. In most, these arms ended in a pincer with a serrated cutting edge but some of the insects had two fingers and a thumb instead of the natural weapons. Unlike the arms, the two legs had only one joint and ended in jagged feet with two pointed digits.

The humanoids wore leather armor under cloth robes, a look that would have made them blend in on Tatooine. They were armed with spears, artfully made swords and slug-throwers that Anakin recognized as Czerka Outland rifles.

The insects didn't bother with clothing beyond belts and bandoleers. Those insects with fingers to operate them were armed with modern blasters, thermal detonators and comm-links, indicating they were not only sentient but more technologically advanced than the humanoids.

This advantage didn't seem to be helping the insects. The humanoids were fierce warriors, each killing dozens of insects before being cut down by sharp pincers or falling to a blaster bolt. The humanoids were lead by two unusually skilled fighters, a male and a female. The male wilded his Outland rifle with amazing skill, an insect dieing every time he squeezed the trigger. The female, wielding two swords, cut down any insect that came too close to them.

They lead from the front, always moving forward, inspiring those behind them to fight harder. Their teamwork was perfect, with the male dealing death at long range and the female at close range they were unstoppable. The insects were being pushed back and the course of the battle seemed assured.

Then it happened.

The male squeezed the trigger but the weapon didn't fire, the chamber was empty. Cursing in a unknown language he stopped moving to reload his rifle. The female was dancing between the insects, leaving a trail of dead bodies behind her. When the male looked up, rifle ready, there were three rows of insects between them. Calling out to the female he opened fire into the insects separating them. Hearing his voice, the female looked behind her and Anakin could feel her shock when she realized she was alone and surrounded.

The female had been so caught up in the battle she didn't even notice her companion had stopped to reload his weapon until he called her name.

The male, supported by the warriors behind him, killed scores of insects in an attempt to reach his companion but more took their place. The female fought to reach him but with the insects circling her she could not move a step closer. She parried their serrated pincers with her swords, occasionally making a shallow cut on an arm or leg, but without her companion to strike down some of the insects with his rifle she had no room to attack. She could hear his voice calling her name but try as she might she could not see him over the wall of serrated pincers and razor sharp teeth between them.

It was a small blow to the back that did it. It wasn't painful, her thick leather armor absorbed most of the impact, but it was enough to make her stumble. As two pincers came at her she blocked one with a sword but, being out of balance, she could only deflect the other pincer away from her stomach to graze her leg. She made the insect pay by cutting off both its arms. As it backed away from her, screeching in pain, some of its blood flew into her eyes. In the time it took to wipe the blood from her eyes a pincer slashed her back, cutting through her armor and spilling her blood. Spinning on her feet, she cut off the head of the insect behind her. A sharp pain on her left shoulder made her drop one of her swords. Looking at her shoulder she saw she had been shot. Raising her head she spotted an insect with a blaster rifle lining up another shot and, with a scream of anger and fear, she rushed forward and buried her remaining sword in its chest.

Before she could pull the weapon from the dying insect, a pincer cut her arm off at the wrist. Screaming in pain she backed away from the insects, watching as they circled ever closer around her. Her companion was still calling her name but now there was a frantic, almost desperate tone in his voice. The insects seemed content to keep their distance, perhaps waiting to see if she would surrender or beg for her life.

In the end she did neither.

Focusing on her left arm, she forced it to work through sheer will until she could make a fist. Grabbing a dagger from her belt, the female warrior let out a battle cry and threw herself at the insects.

The male warrior, seeing his companion throw herself at the enemy only to disappear in a flurry of pincers, let out an agonizing scream and fell to his knees.

That's when the battle changed.

Seeing one of their leaders being cut down and the other fall to his knees the army faltered. The insects took advantage to cease the initiative and began to push back. Throwing a volley of thermal detonators to break up the enemy lines they rushed the humanoids under cover of blaster fire.

The humanoid warriors tried to hold their ground but their Outland rifles were too few in number and lacked the stopping power to break the enemy charge. Their positions overrun, the warriors were forced to retreat.

The one exception was the male leader who fought to reach the dead body of his companion even as his army fled. He fired his rifle until he was out of ammo then used the weapon as a club to smash the insects out of his way. When the rifle was ripped from his hands he picked up a large rock from the ground and used it to crush the heads of any insects between him and the body of his companion.

Suddenly, hands grabbed his arms and pulled him back. He looked over his shoulder to see some of his most loyal warriors trying to drag him away while others fought to keep the insects from surrounding them. He struggled but more hands took hold of him and pulled him back. He could only scream, powerless to stop her body being taken out to sea by the waves.

Anakin felt the pain of his loss even as the images blurred and vanished. More images rushed past him, faster than ever, allowing him only small glimpses.

Faces and places, most unknown. A battle on a red planet, between a metal army and a white army. Himself, his future self, even older now fighting on the ground cutting through battle-droids with a lightsaber and in space flying a starfighter between two waring fleets of warships.

The farther into the future the images took him, the harder it was to understand what he was seeing. Soon all he could grasp was the most basic concepts of the vision.

War. Violence. Suffering. Death.

With a pained gasp Anakin found himself looking up at the ceiling of his room with something bumping against his arm. "Artoo? What... what am I doing on the floor?"

The droid responded in a tone that easily conveyed its concern for its master, even to those who did not understand Droidspeak.

"I fell off the bed? Oh." Anakin tried to get up only to turn away from the droid and emptying his stomach on the floor.

R2 came closer to Anakin and asked if he needed help. "No Artoo, I'm alright... I just need a minute."

Anakin ran his hand through his hair, took a deep breath and slowly stood up. "Come on Artoo, I need some fresh air. You know your way around this Palace, right?" The droid whistled affirmatively. "Good, than you can give me a tour... right after I find something to clean up this mess."

(((XxX)))

The vast, cavernous stone corridors of the Royal Palace were a showcase of the talented sculptors of Naboo. Full of great works of art the Palace could rival any museum on the planet. The corridors themselves, with high ceilings and ornate columns crafted by Naboo's best artisans, were a work of art in their own right.

Not that Anakin Skywalker was appreciating any of it. He was standing on a balcony overlooking the Palace Plaza. Not that long ago the Plaza had been full of people, watching the victory parade and celebrating their liberation from the Trade Federation. Now the Plaza was empty, the people were gone, flowers petals being swept back and forth by the wind the only sign the parade ever took place. The nights silence would have been eerie if it wasn't for the droids running up and down the Plaza. With all the decorations, ribbons, flowers and people you could almost pretend nothing bad had ever taken place here. Now, under the light of the full moon, the damage caused by the occupation was painfully obvious. A large section of the Plaza had been reduced to ruins.

'So much destruction. Entire buildings brought down by those tanks. Probably by stray shots, stupid Trade Federation battle-droids can't shoot straight,' Anakin thought to himself with a snort.

Repairs were already under way. Even now dozens of work-droids were clearing away the ruble. Another sign of how different life was on Naboo. On Tatooine nobody would have bothered to clean up this mess. They would just scavenge whatever was valuable and leave the rest.

Turning to his droid, Anakin said, "Come on Artoo, let's sneak into the hanger bay and check out the starfighters."

Theed's main hanger was located alongside the city's Plasma Refinery Complex so that the plasma from the refinery could easily and quickly be fead to the starfighters of the Naboo Royal Space Fighter Corps. Anakin used a separate entrance, taking the long way around the complex to avoid crossing the refinery where Qui-Gon Jinn died.

The sight of so many gleaming starfighters made the long walk worth it. "Artoo I want you to access the starfighters computers and copy the data on the flight recorders, not everything just the battles. Can you do that?" The droid whistled in response and moved to the closest starfighter.

While his droid worked Anakin ran around the hanger touching the starfighters smooth surface, sticking his head into open panels to see the inner workings and crawling all over the craft with an ever growing smile on his face.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Anakin was just climbing into an open cockpit when the loudly asked question made him slip and land flat on his face. He got up with as fast as he could, trying to salvage what was left of his dignity, but the fact that R2 was openly laughing at him told him he failed miserably. Anakin's attempt at glaring a hole through the droid was interrupted by another question.

"Hey, are you all right kid?" Asked a woman running up to him.

Anakin looked up and blushed when he saw the amusement in her dark features. "I'm fine! I meant to do that."

"Right", the woman said trying to suppress a grin. "Of course you did."

Anakin crossed his arms and pointedly turned away from her.

"Hehe! Sorry kid, I didn't mean to tease you. But you really shouldn't be in here, you could get hurt."

Anakin scoffed at that. "If I didn't get hurt flying one of these starfighters into battle against those Trade Federation droid-fighters, so I doubt I'll get hurt just looking at them. You know, as long as nobody startles me."

"Startles you? I thought you meant to do that," she said with a grin. Then what he said dawned on her and she interrupted Anakin's sputtering attempt at a comeback. "Wait, you're that kid? The one that took out the droid control ship?"

"Yup, I'm Anakin Skywalker," he said holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Vana Sage," she said shaking his hand. "I knew the droid control ship was destroyed by a kid the Queen brought with her, but I had no idea you were so young. I heard the other pilots talking about you, they said you took out at least five droid-fighters before you blew up the control ship. You must be a very experienced pilot."

Anakin scratched the back of his head and said. "Uh, actually, that was the first time I've ever piloted a starfighter." Seeing the surprise and disbelief on her face Anakin decided to explain. "A friend of mine thaught me how to pilot a ship - something I'm going to thank him for, again, the moment I see him - but he has a gunship. Piloting something as small and fast as a starfighter is very different from piloting a heavy gunship. Still, his lessons probably saved my life. Without them I probably would have spent the whole battle doing barrel rolls, trying not to get killed."

Vana raised an eyebrow. "You really never flew a starfighter before? That's impressive, kid."

"Well not a starfighter, no, but I have piloted something just as fast. I'm a podracer. I build a custom racer, the fastest in the Galaxy! I won the Boonta Eve Classic just before I left Tatooine with Padmé... I mean Queen Amidala."

"I never heard of a Human wining a big podrace. Or a small one for that matter," she said.

"I'm the first," Anakin said, with pride. "So, are you a pilot?"

"Well, technically I'm a mercenary," she said.

Anakin waited for her to continued but she remained silent, obviously reluctant to say more on the subject.

"Uh, all right. So what are you doing here? It's pretty late," Anakin asked.

"I'm repairing my ship," Vana replied. "She suffered some damage on that last battle and I-"

"You have a ship? Where is it? Can I see it?" Anakin asked, in a single breath.

Vana's eyes widened in surprise at the rapid fire questions.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I just... I really like ships," he said.

"It's all right kid, I get it. Come on, my ship is over there," she said with a smile, leading Anakin to a corner of the hanger.

"Whoa. That's your ship?" Anakin asked, gazing up at a ship hanging from a metal support frame.

"Damn right! What do you think of my baby?" Vana asked.

Vana's 'baby' was a large tree-winged craft. The light grey hull was marred by several scorch marks, a sign the shields had failed at some point during battle. Two laser cannons on the 'chin' of the ship seemed to have melted onto their turret.

"Interesting design," Anakin said, walking around the ship. "Larger than most starfighters. I've never seen anything like it. I hate to admit it, but I don't even recognize the model.

"Well, of course you don't. Guardian Mantis is one of a kind. There is no other ship like her," Vana said with a smirk.

Anakin tore his eyes from the unusual craft to look at it's master. "She's a prototype?"

"Yeah, a starfighter/bomber prototype. I had her made for me when..."Vana cut herself off with a grimace. "Anyway, I should get back to work," she said, digging through a tool box.

"So, what's the damage?" Anakin asked. "She doesn't look too banged up."

"Well, there was some minor internal damage, mostly to the repulsorlift engine, but Modthree is taking care of it now ..."

"Modthree?" Anakin asked.

"My astromech droid," she said, pointing up.

Confused, Anakin took a few steps back straining his neck to see the top of the ship while cursing his short stature. Sure enough, there was a R2-Series astromech droid just above the cockpit. It beeped a greeting.

"Hey, little guy. What are you doing up there?" Anakin asked.

It was Vana who answered the question. "Modthree is hardwired into the ship. It can't be separated from Guardian Mantis. At least, not without a hull cutter."

"What? Why would you do that?" Anakin wondered. "I suppose if it doesn't need to move you could save power or something, but why would you limit your astromech like that? It seems... counter productive."

"Not at all," she said. "The legs were removed and Modthree was connected to tree long articulated manipulator arms, allowing him to reach all the ship's internal systems and effect repairs in mid flight."

"Interesting system. But, it has an obvious limitation," he said looking at the melted laser cannons.

"Yeah, it's a trade off," she said with a grimace. "Where basic maintenance and internal damage is concerned Modthree can do the work of a team of engineers, but when it comes to external damage he's pretty much useless."

On top of the ship, Mod-3 gave a depressed little whisle.

"Hey, come on little guy, it's not your fault. You are a great droid!" Anakin said, looking up at the astromech.

"Are you... trying to cheer up a droid?" Vana asked, fighting a smile.

"Hey, droids have feelings too!" Anakin proclaimed with a mild glare.

"All right, all right," she said between chuckles. "Let's just agree to disagree." Looking up at the droid, Mod-3 did seem happier. She shook her head, laughing, and got back to work.

"So, what happened there?" Anakin asked, nodding at the laser cannons.

"They overheated,"Vana replied.

"Well yeah, I can see that," said Anakin rolling his eyes. "How did you manage to overheat your cannons to the melting point in one battle? There weren't that many droid-fighters."

"One battle?" Vana asked. "You think there was only battle?"

"I don't know. I was on Tatooine when the Trade Federation invaded Naboo," said Anakin. "From what I heard, the droid army took over the planet in a few hours."

"Well, that's true. But there were plenty of people willing to fight them. The surviving members of the Royal Naboo Security Forces formed a Resistance movement. They recruited anybody that would join them, from law enforcement officers to criminals. The movement itself was made up of a handful of different groups, mostly because long range comms were being jammed. And because nobody even considered the possibility of something like a planetary invasion happening so there were no plans or protocols in place," she said with a frown marring her face.

"In the end being divided into small, independent groups was a double edged blade. They couldn't do as much damage alone as they could have done working together, but it also made it much more difficult for the Trade Federation to stop them."

"The Resistance groups ambushed droid patrols, raided or destroyed supply depots and liberated people from prisoner camps. One group even got their hands on some starfighters and destroyed Trade Federation assets in orbit."

"Uh, didn't know that," he muttered. "What about you, Vana? Were you in the resistance?"

"Yes, I was," she said, reaching for a tool.

"Then why are you here, all alone?" Anakin asked in a serious voice.

Vana dropped the hydrospanner.

"If you are telling the truth, and I know you are, every member of the Resistance is a hero. I bet if I were to walk into any cantina on Naboo I would find it full of people buying drinks to Resistance members. When they go home I'm sure they can have any woman, or man, they want to warm their bed."

"And those are just the grunts whose greatest accomplishment was shooting a blaster in the general direction of some battle-droids. A young, attractive pilot like you should be surrounded by pilots and engineers, all eager to show off their mechanical skills."

"Yet, here you are. Trying to do a two person job. All alone. Why is that?"

Vana looked at Anakin for a long time. "You're older than you look."

"Not really. On Tatooine, you grow up fast or not at all," he said. "Are you going to answer the question?"

Vana stood up and turned away from him.

Anakin waited for a minute and was about to walk away when she spoke.

"I was born on Alderaan. I grew up being told it was the most peaceful planet in the Galaxy. I always thought it was the most boring. I left Alderaan when I was fifteen, with the dream of becoming a great starfighter pilot. I worked in a few ships, mostly freighters, learning from any pilot willing to teach me."

She turned to face Anakin.

"A few years after I left Alderaan, I was a freighter pilot. We came to Naboo to drop off some cargo, I don't even remember what it was. We weren't supposed to stay for more than a few hours, but I decided to take a walk around Theed while the cargo was being unloaded. I found a nice place to eat and was trying to do decide what to order when I saw a vid on the wall screen. It was a recruitment vid for the Royal Naboo Security Forces, they were looking for pilots for their Space Fighter Corps."

"The moment I saw those gleaming starfighters on that vid I forgot about the food, about the freighter that would be stranded on Naboo without a pilot, about..." Vana shook her head.

"I took some tests, showed off my skills in a simulator and next thing I knew, I was a pilot in the Naboo Space Fighter Corps," she said with a smile.

"Life was good but it didn't last," Vana said, her smile turning into a frown.

"Why not?" Anakin asked.

"Did you know Alderran's government deliberately passed laws that made it illegal to search or even question ships arriving or leaving the planet?" Vana asked.

Chuckling at the stunned look on Anakin's face, she said. "It's true. They have security forces, but Alderran's very laws binds their hands. They can't do anything unless someone commits a crime that can't be ignored, like killing someone in the middle of the street in front of several witnesses. Peace... at any cost."

Vana shook her head. "It's not as bad on Naboo but people here still believe any and all conflicts can be solved through diplomacy. By the time I joined the Space Fighter Corps I had seen enough of the Galaxy to know better. I took one look at Naboo's defenses and... well I rated them somewhere between Embarrassingly Inadequate and Pirate's Paradise."

Anakin snorted. "Is that out of an official planetary defense scale or-"

"No," Vana interrupted with a smirk. "It's my own scale."

"Right," Anakin laughed. "So you..."

"Well, every man and woman in the Royal Naboo Security Forces are volunteers. Some are off worlders, most are locals that never left the star system and join the Security Forces for a few years before *getting a real job*. They are not professional soldiers with actual military training, so..."

"You assumed the security was crap because they didn't know better," concluded Anakin.

Vana nodded. "I didn't want to embarass anyone so I just made a few observations, you know, pointed out the largest gaps in the security net. The ones that could and would be easily exploited during an attack. I thought they would do the rest. They didn't."

"I waited for a while but nothing changed. I dropped some more hints, still nothing. So I figured, screw subtlety, these guys clearly need to have this spelled out to them."

Anakin winced. He could see were this was going. "What did you do?"

"I made a full threat assessment, complete with several computer simulations, depicting various scenarios ranging from pirate raids to a full planetary invasion. It clearly showed how inadequate the security was. I presented it to Panaka, the closest thing to a professional soldier in the Security Forces and waited for his findings."

"I just wanted his opinion but a few days later I was summoned to the Palace. I was ushered into a meeting with several government officials. The head of the Royal Naboo Security Forces and the head of the Space Fighter Corps were present but they didn't say a word."

Vana grimaced. "The... politicians told me they had reviewed my findings and then proceeded to explain, in a incredibly condescending manner, all the ways I was wrong. They told me how *the gallant men and women of the Security Forces were more than a mach for any cowardly pirate*. As if gallantry was some kind of magical shield that could protect you from a blaster. They told me *they couldn't possible justify increased military spending for it could be perceived as a provocation by nearby systems and because they had nothing to fear from their neighbors*. Even though their neighbors included the Hutt crime lord Borvo and his smugglers, bounty hunters and mercs that easily evaded the outdated tracking systems used by the Naboo Security Forces and routinely moved large shipments of weapons and spice to the planet."

"They went on to say that the Security Forces existed more because of a tradition dating back to more uncivilized times, than any actual need for their protection. That any conflict would be resolved diplomaticlly, like civilized people working in good faith to achieve a compromise." Vana shook her head. "I don't know what bothered me more. The way they looked down their nose at me, speaking in a slow, patronizing tone as if I was a particularly slow witted child or the realization that the people running this world were really that naive."

"Alderran can afford to take a relaxed attitude in regards to planetary security. It's a Core world, one of the most important planets in the Republic," she said. "If someone actually attacked Alderran, Jedi and Republic forces would be immediately dispatched from Coruscant to protect the planet. Naboo is all alone out here."

Anakin shrugged. "I guess there's nothing wrong with trying to find a compromise but when you are dealing with pirates... well, their idea of a compromise is usually, *If you dumb bastards don't put up a fight while we take everything you got, rape your women and burn down your homes we won't kill you when we're done*. Unless they get bored, then they'll kill you just for fun."

"Exactly!" Vana said. "How does a kid understand that and they don't?"

"Well, unlike them I've actually met some pirates," said Anakin with a wry smile.

"Yeah, I guess it helps to know what you are talking about," she said with a sigh. "My only comfort was that the heads of the Security Forces and Fighter Corps were just as angry with the situation as I was, but there was nothing they could do. I later found out I wasn't the first to propose some changes and that the display of patronizing arrogance and appalling ignorance I was subjected to was the standard response by the government. I couldn't stay after that. Oh, I tried but I was just too angry. I packed my bags and booked a passage on the first passenger ship out of the system."

Vana turned to look at her ship. "I moved around for a while, until I found another job... with the Trade Federation."

Anakin's eyebrows shot up.

"They were looking for pilots to test their droid-fighters. It was a good job. The credits were great and I was basically getting payed to shoot droids out of the sky."

Vana reach out and touched her ship. "It was around that time I contracted a brilliant Xi Char engineer to make Guardian Mantis for me."

Vana turned to face Anakin. "I was testing the Scarab class droid starfighter when I learned something I wasn't supposed to know. Modthree intercepted a transmission about the invasion of Naboo. When the Trade Federation learned of this, they decided to terminate my employment contract by sending a bunch of droids and a squad of mercs to kill me. It didn't really work out the way they planed it," she said with a fierce grin.

"That's it?" Anakin asked. "That's why you're here alone? They refused to help you repair your ship, a ship damaged defending Naboo, because you worked for the Trade Federation!?"

"Well, technically they didn't refuse to help me," she grimaced. "They just moved my ship to the bottom of the repair list and said they would get to it. Eventually."

"Right," Anakin snorted. "Eventually is code for never." Anakin looked around at the parts scattered around the ship. "Well, at least they gave you new cannons and the parts you needed to replace."

Vana's eyes darted around the hanger bay. "Hmm, gave. Right."

"You stole the parts, didn't you?" Anakin asked.

"Mmmm... maybe?" Vana answered with a sheepish grin.

"Well, come on then," Anakin said. "Let's get this done before someone wanders by and starts asking questions you can't answer."

Vana stared at Anakin. "Why would you help me, kid?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Anakin asked. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I could be lying," Vana pointed out.

"You could," Anakin nodded. "But you're not." Seeing Vana beginning to ask he raised his hand. "I just know."

"In that case thank you, I appreciate the help," she said. "Uh, don't take this the wrong way but... do you know anything about repairing ships?"

Anakin smiled. "I do this for a living. Ships and speeders, droids and weapons, I can fix anything."

Vana raised an eyebrow. "So winning podraces and saving planets is just what you do on your free time?"

"Well, everyone needs a hobby," said Anakin.

Vana's laughter echoed throughout the hanger.

(((XxX)))

A/N: Can you guys think of a good name for Anakin's ship? I have a couple of possible names but if you can come up with a better one I'll use it and give you credit. Just keep in mind, it's a bulk freighter not a star destroyer. 


End file.
